Gates of Eden -a Photomontage

The Gates of Eden is my interpretation of the Genesis theme. Just inside the Gates stand two imposing angels. They are cherubim, and they were put there to guard the Gates after God drove out Adam and Eve from the Garden. In the Bible story, there is also a flaming sword which flashed back and forth. It was put there to guard the way to the Tree of Life. In my montage, there is no flaming sword but I have used the idea in another of my montages called Entering Eden.

Click on the image above to enlarge it

By the way, we tend to think of cherubim (or cherubs) as chubby little babies with wings but this is a more modern usage of the word which actually refers to putti, an Italian word for babies and toddlers that you see in paintings. In the original sense of the word, cherubim were angels of the second highest order of the nine-fold celestial hierarchy - one notch down from seraphim - so pretty powerful all the same!

Back to the montage... the Garden of Eden is, of course, paradise, and the child represents innocence or purity and recalls the words of Jesus when he said: "Unless ye become as little children ye will not enter the kingdom of heaven". So in my mind, this image joins the old and the new Testaments.

We all have a longing, albeit buried in our souls, to return to a time and place where everything was simple and life was sweet. I believe this place is within our own psyches and that we can access it fully if we know how. We can 'be in heaven this very day' if we choose the spiritual path that is right for us, and persue it whole heartedly.

So my montage seems to pose the question: will the child be allowed in at the gates? Well the gates stand ajar but nonetheless, the angels are rather large and imposing...

Follow this link if you would like to read Genesis 3:21 where the Gates of Eden are story first started.

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